A te o cara

A collection of some memorable belcanto moments... I Puritani. Act 1. A fortress near Plymouth. Arturo arrives for the wedding and celebrates his new-found happiness ("A te, o cara").

Think Chopin nocturnes in this sort of repertoire - lots of rubato, portamento, shading... I might agree, however, speaking of JDF as an interpreter, with a remark a critic made on the occasion of his debut in "I Puritani": "The note of monotony in the tone color that occasionally intruded must be avoided: nuance, nuance, nuance."

0:00 Arturo Talbot - Juan Diego Flórez
Conductor - Michele Mariotti
Orchestra - Teatro Comunale di Bologna 2009

Tenore leggero punto basta? Juan Diego Flórez è per sua propria natura voce leggera. Canta Arturo per imposta necessità a chi vuol essere stella belcantista, ma è intimamente Lindoro, Don Narciso, al limite Ernesto (e in questo non v'è niente di male... ognuno ha la natura vocale che ha). Gli mancano la voce e la "potenza" necessaria nel canto belliniano, sia nei momenti eroici che in quelli lirici, ove canta bene, con eleganza, ma lo slancio di un Aureliano Pertile o di un Alfredo Kraus appartengono al passato.

Una delle peculiarità di questo ruolo consiste certo nella gran copia di forcelle, messe di voce e smorzature, spesso poste in sequenza, come nelle prime battute di "A te, o cara, amor talora", su scrittura quasi orizzontale, oppure in frasi come "tra la gioja e l'esultar..." Le forcelle singole e doppie impongono al protagonista di sfumare, essere vario e nobile, mentre le salite all'acuto ("tra la gioja e l'esul_tAr") impongono di coniugare squillo ed ampiezza.
E' mancato un portamento di vera qualità nei passaggi la-re tipo "A te o CA-RA, amor TALO-RA" e le forcelle non sono risultate ben udibili per mancanza di cavata della voce.

Nessuna esecuzione successiva è varia, quanto a dinamica ed agogica, come il reperto archeologico di Aureliano Pertile:

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When compared with Pertile (or even with Maria Callas at Juilliard) we notice that Flórez does not offer much variation in dynamics or tone color:

1:08 Aureliano Pertile takes the role of Arturo, with masculine grandeur (recorded in 1930). He uses his voice like an artist with a paintbrush: "A te o ca_A_rA, amo_Or talo_O_rA", "tra la gioja e l'esul_tAr" (diminuendo, downward portamento). The illusion of unbroken legato is there, due to the masterly use of upward and downward portamento, creating an effect of warmth and grandeur.

Aureliano Pertile (1885-1952) was a lyric-dramatic tenor. He made his La Scala debut as Paolo in Francesca da Rimini in 1916. He debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Cavaradossi in Tosca 1921. He returned to Italy thereafter and established himself as La Scala's leading tenor from 1927 to 1937, becoming Arturo Toscanini's favorite tenor.

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2:17 Finally, Maria Callas takes the role of Arturo, with vivacity and sweet tone, making the necessary contrasts (piAnto - giOja)... The phrasing, the phrasing!! Listening to it makes me feel I'm on a swing, peaking and then dipping down with those liquid portamenti, bridges that are like cognac and champagne at once... (Well she did say she was the Cognac to Tebaldi's Champagne...)

Maria Callas, master class at Juilliard (1972)
Vincenzo Bellini: I Puritani
"A te, o cara" - Arturo (tenor)
This entire class can be found here:

Amazing! She makes it seem like it's the most simple thing in life. Very old school!

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However, it's a little unfair to compare early singers and contemporary ones (many of whom I also admire) without certain allowances for the primitive acoustic recording process which makes it difficult to assess accurately tone, technique, and even style.
Nilsson made a record using the old recording process and it was unrecognizable and awful. Who knows how many great singers today would sound terrible on ancient recordings?

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